Why don't the top percent, the best of the best, the Ryan Halls and Kara Gouchers, give off-road racing a try? James Howard, a longtime high school and college coach, Olympic trials marathoner and a two-time winner of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, identifies the elite runner's typical progression.

"Most competitive road and track runners have progressed through some type of youth or high school and college running program that offers cross country and track," Howard muses, reflecting many Running Times readers' experience. "Cross country offers the fast racer the experience of running over dirt and grass on wide trails at distances that range from 2 miles to 12K. So, most serious runners will progress to longer flat road racing distances such as the half marathon and marathon but will not transition to longer trail racing because they are more interested in personal records at established distances. When you transition to technical trail, personal records are slower and race-specific. Most serious road racers do not feel the need to race on trails longer than the distances offered in the sport of cross country and do not care about the challenge that technical trail running offers."

Gary Lepisto, who has coached both high school and adult endurance athletes for 30 years, including Brandy Erholtz, says, "I think there are a few good reasons why road racers don't do many trail races. Money is the first." Lepisto adds, "There is a perception that trail racing is for slow people, is not very hard and is not 'real' racing. The risk of injury is great too--the chance of falling or twisting an ankle is greatly improved."

David Riddle, an aerospace engineer, feels that there's a huge mental component required for the road-to-trail conversion, too. "For a 15:00 5K guy, it's tough mentally to accept that they have to run 8:00 or 9:00 pace on some trails. They might worry that running that slow will negatively impact their speed."

Erholtz, who works full-time as a special education teacher, believes competitive road runners may not see the challenge in trail races. "I think some competitive road and track runners see our 'slow' times and think trail racing wouldn't push them enough. I think many who try are humbled by the 'skill' it can take to run up and down mountains, over rocks and tree roots."

TRANSITION TO TRAIL PROWESS

Because so many variables enter the equation, even the most versatile runners and their coaches rarely find the transition to off-road racing seamless. Howard lists the most common problems a serious road racer encounters when crossing over to technical trail racing:

Undeveloped foot/eye coordination needed for technical trails.

Undeveloped ability to judge proper race pace for hilly terrain.

Undeveloped habit of carrying fluids in bottles.

Difficulty identifying and interpreting trail markings.

Lack of muscle development for long uphill and downhill running.

If these issues aren't resolved, some bumps and bruises to the body and ego are inevitable. Take, for instance, Jeff Caba's teasing challenge to his now-wife Katie on their first date: "How fast can you run? I bet I can beat you." A few years later at a local trail half marathon a humbled husband almost had to eat his words.

"I had one of my worst races. I almost got beat by my wife, who is a great runner, but usually not my top competition. I went out way too hard, attacked the first series of steep hills too aggressively and I had to begin the walk-jog to the finish line. I fortunately held off my wife by 19 seconds. I had unrealistic expectations as far as pace and I failed to adjust to the terrain."

Lepisto believes the most difficult aspect of training clients like Erholtz has been overcoming trail running's erratic pace changes. "Trail races are like interval sessions," he says. "You have hills you must run hard, technical sections on which you can't recover but easier smooth sections where you can regroup. My favorite trait in a good trail runner is the ability to suffer."

Smith, who coaches for the Jack Daniels-inspired Run S.M.A.R.T. Project, stresses the importance of practicing these pace changes.

"If I were training a road runner for a road race, I'd want them to become very comfortable at race pace. We'd practice until they could take a nap at race pace. But on the trails, this rhythm running won't work. A trail runner must be very good at changing gears. They have to be used to running at a maximal effort but changing their pace significantly during the race."
Riddle, who is self-coached, found that footing on technical trails was a tough obstacle to overcome. "You have to be careful not to go out too hard in trail racing because if your legs turn to Jell-O late in the race, you're not going to be able to navigate the rocks and roots without falling," he says. "A very muddy trail can really slow you down and many first-timers forget to take that into account and blow up late in the race."

Like Riddle, Mike Smith found out firsthand what a trail can do to a road runner's body. "My biggest shock when I started trail racing was the breakdown and extreme fatigue I was experiencing in my back, calves and feet over the uneven surfaces and steep hills," he says.

"It is important to practice getting comfortable on those surfaces. Trail specificity is important. Trail runners have to be very strong in their core. I feel that the strongest runner in the weight room is the strongest on the trail."

In a road race, a watch is just as important as footwear. During a trail race, however, the watch can be more of an annoyance or a psychological hindrance. Both Katie Caba and Erholtz have solved the problem by ditching their watches. Instead, Caba focuses on the racers around her. "My focus is not on the watch or my pace, but more on 'feel' and the competition. The big mistake in making a transition to trails is watching your pace too closely. It is simply too unpredictable off-road and I have to ignore the stopwatch and trust my 'effort-meter.'"

Erholtz echoes this sentiment: "Running 10:00 pace on a hilly course can bring you to your anaerobic threshold while running 10:00 pace on the road would be an easy jog. I no longer wear a watch in most races as I know I am there to race against whoever shows up, the terrain and the weather."

Riddle has had a more difficult time leaving his watch at home. "On the roads," he says, "I could run almost all of my mileage under 7:00 pace. Depending on the trail, 7:00 pace could be nearly impossible. It took me a while to learn that easy pace on the trails was not the same as the roads; I had to run by feel. It also affected my mileage goals, because I could only run 17 trail miles in the time it would take me to run 20 miles on the road. Time on the trail becomes more important than the actual mileage you cover."

Road signs, lead vehicles and barricades are nonexistent in trail races, and fields are small enough that runners can't always follow the pack. Courses are marked with chalk and ribbon, which are often hard to see if you lose focus. "If you expect to win, you must know the course," Lepisto says. "You have to know when you can break away on those sections that are your strengths." No matter what your ability is, course maps and descriptions will keep you from getting lost and allow you to develop race strategy.

In Smith's first trail ultra race, Moab's Red Hot 55K in February, he discovered that simply putting his head down and running hard wasn't all that mattered. Early in the race, after he had built a lead, Smith missed critical course markings and took a wrong turn, going far off course. "I had to make a decision at 5:30/mile pace," Smith recalls. "I am not from Moab, so it all looked the same to me. I had over a mile lead and had no one to ask or wait for to consult with. Every second was precious." In the end, he decided to retire from the race.

ON TOP OF BOTH WORLDS

Can a competitive runner excel on both the roads and trails? Absolutely, but some things have to change. "Many people probably think that they have to pick one--that they can't be good at both trail and road racing," Riddle says. He believes that few have successfully done so, because, he says, "You really have to recalibrate your mind, and that can be challenging for many experienced road racers."

You don't have to choose between road and trail. Getting out of your comfort zone can provide a path for improvement and discovery.

Smith agrees. "It was only until I started my training for TransRockies that I started learning about how far I could take my body," he says. "I had to open my mind and begin doing things that were unheard of to a road runner. I began to do back-to-back-to-back long runs and very intimidating rim-to-river-to-rim runs in the Grand Canyon. I didn't limit myself. Simply put, I know what I can do and trail running has allowed me to explore that. I enjoy doing both and don't want to give either of them up."

On Being RealisticDavid Riddle, 29

CINCINNATI, OH

In 2009, Cincinnati's David Riddle, a 14:38 5K walk-on at Auburn University, found that he'd run out of pavement. The new U.S. Olympic trials marathon qualifying standard had been dropped from 2:22 to 2:19. Riddle focused all his energies on qualifying at the Rocket City Marathon. He won the race, but his 2:26 came up short of qualifying. Though still considered elite by most, Riddle says, "I felt that it was no longer a realistic goal for my abilities. I wasn't ready to give up running completely, though, so I started looking for new ways to challenge myself."

At the time, Riddle was living in Huntsville, Ala. "The road racing scene where I was living was relatively weak, but there were quite a few serious trail runners. That passionate, close-knit community of runners was what drew me from the roads. A few group runs later, I was hooked on the trails."

After a fourth-place finish at the 2009 U.S. 10K trail championships, Riddle notched a series of successful trail ultra victories and course records. Among those brilliant races was his second attempt this past January at the technically challenging Mountain Mist 50K Trail Run in Alabama. Riddle describes that race in an excerpt from his blog: "I ran the first 6.5 miles of the 2011 version of the Mountain Mist 4 minutes slower compared to last year. Best decision I have ever made in a race was to go down that 4 minutes to my ghost of last year. By the end of the race I had turned that 4-minute deficit into a 15-minute surplus, a win, and a course record. And maybe even the best race of my life."

When Mike Smith met me at one of his favorite downtown Flagstaff watering holes he was still limping from his effort three days earlier--a 2:21 at June's San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. Smith confessed that had it not been for a tight quad, which may have been a lingering result of his course record win at an off-road marathon a month prior, 2:15 felt well within his grasp.

Smith, who owns a 2:19 marathon PR from the 2007 Chevron Houston Marathon, is quickly becoming known as one of those runners who can do it all. A glance at his running resume reveals he's both a regular in the elite starting corrals at marathons and a runner who tears it up at national and international trail racing events. I had to ask, however, "If you have all this marathon talent and potential, why do you compete in so many trail events? Shouldn't you focus on the roads, where all the fame and fortune lie?"

With a smirk, Smith answers, "I just can't help myself. I ran track and cross country at Georgetown University. During cross country, we were taught to race every time we stepped to the line. Your placing in the meet was much more important than your time. I had a hard time adjusting to the track mentality. For example, they would hold these 10,000m time trial races where we'd run single file around the track. The point wasn't to outrun your competitors but to run a qualifying performance. It's difficult to race against other elites in road races because they're so transfixed on their splits and pace, they won't deviate from that. I like to compete against other fast runners for the sake of racing and throwing all you have into it. Eliminating the time element from the scenario helps. Trail racing aligns with this philosophy nicely."

Smith, who grew up in Central Massachusetts, adds, "I live and work in Flagstaff. I run on the trails because they are woven within the city's matrix and the San Francisco Peaks lie beyond my back door. Trail racing is a natural progression when you have access to these kinds of training grounds. Would it be the same if I still lived in Washington, D.C.? Probably not."

After an All-American career at Georgetown, Smith took a couple of years off, then focused on the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials marathon in New York City (where he DNFed). In August 2009 he took trail running by the horns. First, he partnered with Rob Krar to win the Gore-Tex TransRockies Run, a six-day, 113-mile stage race in the mountains of Colorado. He returned to Colorado a few weeks later and placed second at the Imogene Pass Run, and then won Flagstaff's competitive Soulstice Mountain Trail Run the following month. Then in November, he traveled to Germany and won the Windstopper Trailrun Worldmasters three-day stage race, an event he described as "one of the most wild and unique experiences" of his running career. This year, Smith finished second in his first ultramarathon, the stacked Chuckanut 50K Trail Run held in March in Bellingham, Wash.

Brandy Erholtz, winner of Colorado's Pikes Peak Ascent in 2008 and 2010, shares a blend of the Cabas' and Riddle's stories. She developed an attraction for the trails early, but still sought an Olympic trials marathon qualifying standard.

"While attending college in Duluth, Minn., I was introduced to trails and mud runs. I loved running on them. However, I was still focused on road racing at that point."

Erholtz won the 2007 Holualoa Tucson Marathon under non-ideal conditions, but her time of 2:49 fell 2 minutes shy of the Olympic trials standard. Tucson was representative of Erholtz's growing frustration with roads. "One of the biggest frustrations I met when training for months for a marathon would be how four to five months of training could be 'ruined' by heat and humidity," she says. "When your goal is for a certain time, even winning can be a disappointment."

After moving to Colorado, Erholtz quickly discovered a whole new world of trail racing. In 2007, she ran her first trail race at the Teva Mountain Games, annually one of the country's most competitive trail 10Ks. "I wanted to try something new," Erholtz says. "I entered on a whim and finished third behind Laura Haefli and Anita Ortiz. This is when I realized my stronger build may allow me to excel at trails and my true talent may be running uphills." Brandy put her ascent skills to work and became the U.S. Mountain Running champion in 2008, followed by runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2010.

Dirt has always been a part of trail enthusiasts Jeff and Katie Caba's training program. After they married in 1995, they moved to Bend, Ore., known for its vast trail system, but because trail races were hard to come by, the two found themselves racing on the roads early in their careers.

"It just seems like most races used to be on the roads so that's where I competed," says Jeff, who posted a 2:31 at the 2009 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. "Over the past decade this has changed, and I've discovered more trail races."

Katie ran 2:58 at the 2008 Portland Marathon while her efforts were road-oriented. She says, however, she's always preferred to run on trails.

"I grew up in the Northwest countryside where I followed animal trails and old dirt roads," she says. "I even helped my dad create a running path for junior high and high school training. Most of my racing over the years, particularly in college, was on the track, flat golf courses or roads because it was my only option. When competitive trail racing finally caught on, I was thrilled to leave road racing behind and replace it with my first love--the trails."

Katie dominated the trail scene in 2010 with wins at the U.S. trail marathon national championships in Ashland, Ore., and the USATF Oregon Mountain Running Series Sunrise to Summit Race on Mt. Bachelor.

Katie describes how the races played out: "I entered Sunrise to Summit as a test run for the marathon trail championships. I ran a decent time and was surprised at how well I felt. That translated, as a month later I won the championships. It was one of the most comfortable races I ever ran--I ran for place instead of time and found myself in the lead early on."

Even with his 32:46 road 10K speed, Jeff found that he was a stronger runner on the trails, able to outrun guys who finished ahead of him on the roads. "I am not a rhythm runner. Frequent ups and downs along with curvy singletrack suits my style. I have never been a speed guy and don't have the leg turnover to excel on the roads," he says. "I can bomb downhill pretty well over technical terrain, which helps to make up for my lack of speed."

Jeff put these special talents to use by winning two of Oregon's popular trail races: the 2008 Lithia Loop Trail Marathon and the 2009 Haulin' Aspen Trail Marathon. He also placed eighth at the 2010 U.S. half marathon trail championships and third at Bend's 2010 Dirty Second Half trail race.

Ian Torrence has finished 155 ultradistance races from 50K to 100 miles and won 50 of them since his debut in 1994. He also owns a 2:42 marathon PR. Torrence coaches ultrarunners online at mcmillanrunning.com[1].